This invention relates generally to conveyor systems for poultry feed and like materials, and more particularly concerns a support hanger or support structure for carrying a conveyor tube in a pre-determined location.
Tube conveyors are widely used to transport feed in poultry feeding systems. In many of the commercially successful systems, a helical spring-like auger element is rotated within a conveyor tube to convey granular feed along the tube. One such auger conveyor tube is disclosed in Swartzendruber U.S. Pat. No. 4,317,430. As disclosed there, the auger conveyor tube includes a series of elongated cylindrical tube sections, which can be joined together by bell-and-spigot joints and supported by hangers.
Each tube section is formed by curving or rolling a tube sheet so as to form a radially extending flange-like tube closure seam. Each tube section is also perforated to provide one or more feed drop-out holes or apertures, and these apertures are advantageously located at a given angular displacement or distance from the tube seam. When the feed conveyor tube is installed in a poultry house, many tube sections are fit together to provide a feed conveyor of extended length. Conveyor extents or reaches of several hundred meters or yards in length are not uncommon. Below each drop-out aperture is usually located a feed receiving and delivery device such as a feeder pan. One such pan is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,911,868.
It has been found helpful to assemble the conveyor tube sections so as to array the drop-out holes in helical array of extended pitch. When the holes are so arranged, uniform feed delivery is encouraged, as explained in U.S. Pat. No. 4,003,339.
Of course, the assembled conveyor tube must be supported or hung in the poultry house at a number of locations along the tube length. Preferably, the tube is so supported as to keep it relatively straight and immobile. Moreover, the assembled tube sections must be precisely supported in various angular orientations or amounts of angular displacement, so as to encourage good feed delivery as explained above.
It is accordingly the general object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive yet effective conveyor tube hanger device which will support various tube sections in predetermined angular orientations.
A more specific object is to provide such a conveyor tube hanger device which will permit a conveyor tube section to be located in any one of a great number of angularly discrete positions, in order that the desired helical array of tube section drop-out apertures can be provided.
Another object is to provide such a tube hanger element which can be easily and inexpensively manufactured and installed.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings. Throughout the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like parts.